Multiple-deck incubator



April 9-29. P. s. MARTINY 9 MULTIPLE DECK INCUBATOR Filed May 28, 1923 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 I I 1 I I 5f I I I 24 g'rwewIom @IIQZWL (I CZWZ/ -April 9, 1929.

P. s. MARTIN MULTIPLE DECK INCUBATOR Filed may 28, 1923 v "32? 7 7 if 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 attox nu 5 Patented Apr. 9, 1929.

UNITED STATES PERRY S. MARTIN, OF HARRISONBURG, VIRGINIA.

MULTIPLE-DECK INCUBATOR.

Application filed May 28,

This invention relates to incubators, particularly of the multiple deck, mammoth type and has for its principal object the provision of a heating system suitable therefor.

Those incubators known in the art as multiple deck incubators have capacities ranging usually from three to fifty thousand eggs, and exceptional machines are even larger. They have from two to four decks, ordinarily one above the other, the decks, and consequently the machines, varying in length from twelve to even more than one hundred feet. Although the heating system herein described is primarily intended for and has its principal use in multiple deck incubators it is suitable for use in machines having but a single deck, such use-being profitable in a single deck machine because of the perfect temperature control made possible by the double system of regulation hereinafter described.

An important object of the present invention is to devise a system of heating whereby it is possible to heat a multiple deck incubator in such a manner as to obtain a perfeet balance of temperature between the various decks and also to make it possible to control within extremely narrow limits the temperature in any one of the various decks without in any way afiiecting the heating of the other decks even though a single heating element is used to provide the heat for all of the decks.

A further object of the invention is the provision of a system of incubator heating wherein a single closed system transfers heat in the same or in different amounts and rates to each of a plurality of separated and in dependent secondary closed systems. Other and further objects of the invention will. be apparent from the following description and are specifically set forth in the claims following.

At the present time multiple deck incubators are old and well known having been manufactured for a number of years by a number of different manufacturing corporations but to the best of my knowledge and belief no satisfactory method of heating the various decks has yet been devised, A number of inventors, including myself, have endeavored for years to divide the flow of hot water from a single heater and distribute it to the heating systems of a number of decks 1923. Serial No. 642,067.

by means of valves placed in the pipes between the primary heater and the manifolds of the heating systems of the various decks. It seems that the lack of success in these cases is due to the fact that it is impossible to maintain a perfect balance of temperature in the various decks owing to the varying temperature in both the room and in the water.

he difiiculties recited in the previous paragraph have been entirely overcome in multiple incubators where a separate fire is provided for each deck but this gives rise to a new difiiculty, as it is most diflicult to control the temperature in machines of small capacity and as a matter of fact in warm weather it is even difficult to maintain the fire at all. An additional disadvantage of the multiple heater is that the cost ofoperation is increased owing to the fact that the care of a number of fires greatly increases the labor cost and naturally the regulation of each fire is much more difficult than if the fire were many times larger.

In the system here shown a single heater is provided which heat-s the water or other fluid in the primary heating or circulating system and this water never passes into the systems of the individual decks but constantly circulates through the primary heating system. The heating system of each of the decks is entirely independent of the others and obtains its heat from the primary closed circuit which is maintained at a higher temperature than required for the closed secondary systems in their normal operation.

In the drawings Figure l is a side elevation partly in cross section illustrating the system as applied to a multiple deck incubator.

Fig. 2 is a top plan view of the primary system tank and the secondary system coils therein.

Fig. 3 is a view similar to Fig. 1 but showing a modified form of primary system tank.

Figs. 4 and 5 are views of the expansion type control valves.

In the preferred type of Figs. 1 and 2, 10 is a heater of any preferred type preferably one using solid fuel of relatively cheap nature. This heater communicates with a main tankll shaped generally like a wash boiler that is having plane sides, top and bottom, and rounded ends. The heated water enters the tank 11 at the top through a nipple 12 communicating with a T 14 which opens atthe top to a float valve chamber 15 and at the side to a pipe 17 leading to the heater and delivering hot water. The cooler water passes from, the bottom of the chamber or tank 11 to the pipe 18 which is in communication with the water jacket of the furnace 10.

The incubator is here shown as having three decks numbered 20, 21 and 22 each being of well known and old type. The heating pipes for these decks are of any desired construction and are either within the egg chambers or adjacent thereto but are preferably of the overhead type, diagrammatically illustrated at 24-, in which the flow and return pipes alternate so that uniform temperature is secured. Manifolds 28 are provided for the flow and return pipes as is customary in devices of this kind.

The entrance or flow pipes 27 of the heating system for each deck lead from the chamber or tank 11 communicating through the shell thereof with a coil 30 preferably of copper in order to facilitate the exchange of heat between the water in the tank 11 and the water in the closed circuit provided for each deck. The unions 31 and connections 32 are of any preferred type and for 7 that reason are merely diagrammatically illustrated in the drawings. It is very important in systems of this kind that these fittings be absolutely water tight in order nearest side of the deck is located a valve which may be controlled by a thermostat as illustrated in the top deck 20, or may be controlled by a mere expansion pipe such as shown in connection with the central and lower decks 20 and 21. In the former case an open topped expansion pipe 36 is in communication near the bottom with the entrance pipe 27 so that when the valve 37 is at the bottom of the expansion pipe 36 as shown it will lie entirely below the two alined openings 38 in the expansion pipe 36. A thermostat 4:0 is located within the deck 20 and by means of its lever ll, the link %2, the lever .3 and the rod ist operates the valve 37. IV hen the thermostat l0 expands due to increased temperature within the deck the link 42 is lowered and the valve '37, here shown as a hollow cylinder open at its lower end, is raised to a position to close the two openings 38 in the expansion pipe 36 and hence to check the flow of water or other fluid through the heating pipes 2%.

In the simpler form shown in connection with the lower sections and on a larger scale in Figs. 4- and 5, the expansion pipe 36 is the same as previously described as is the valve 37 but the thermostat is replaced by a simple float valve 56, connected to the valve 37 by a cord, wire or rod 57 so that as the water expands the float 56 will rise and will carry the valve 37 into position to close the alined openings 38 in the expansion pipe 36. I find it preferable to mount a small bracket or stop 58 at the top of the expansion pipe in order to prevent the float 56 rising to a position that would again open communication between the secondary heating coil 24 and the coil 30.

The control of temperature in the primary heating circuit is not required to be close and hence I use the expansion chamber type as stated. Vhen the temperature of the water falls below a desired figure the float 65 falls and opens the damper 66, the weight of which is balanced by the adjustably positioned counterweight 67.

In the modified form shown in Fig. 3 the construction in general is very similar and the same numerals are used to denote the parts used in both. The principal and really the only difference between this type and the preferred form is that in the incubator of Fig. 3 the round ended rectangular heating chamber or tank is replaced by a vertical chamber 60 made up of a plurality of separate cylindrical sections of tubing or casing secured together to form an integral standpipe. The objection to this form is that the water in the primary circuit is chilled by the coils'for the top and middle decks before it reaches the coil for the lower deck which deck as will be understood by those familiar with the art requires a considerably greater amount of heat than does the top deck. This might be avoided by placing the coil for the lower deck at the top of the standpipe 60 but this in turn makes the pipe more complicated, and while satisfactory is not preferred. By having the three coils 30 side by side this difiiculty is entirely overcome and I may locate the entrance T 14 so that it will be slightly offcenter in the direction of the coil of the lower deck.

In operation the primary system and each of the secondary systems are filled separately and after the temperature of the water has reached approximately the desired figure it is brought to the exact temperature desired in the following manner. In the upper deck which is controlled bythe thermostat the lock. nut connecting the rod 42 with the lever 41 is adjustedso as to close the valve when the proper temperature has been reached and in the lower decks, those controlled by the expansion 7 pipe valves shown in Figs. 4: and 5 water is drawn from the heating system for each deck through the pet cook 62 at the bottom of the valve chamber if thetemperature of the water is too high and colder water is added through the open top of the Valve chamber until the precise temperature desired is reached.

Since a relatively great fluctuation of temperature in the primary system will have no effect on the temperatures in the various decks because the independent valves control the temperatures within the individual decks it is possible to use in the furnace 10 a very cheap grade of fuel thereby decreasing considerably the cost of operation. It will be readily understood that the temperature in primary system is always greater than the temperature in the secondary systems and that the valves controlling the secondary systems will operate at varying intervals in the different decks owing to the different requirements for heat by reason of the different locations of the decks; that is, in a large incubator I have built in accordance with the drawings herewith, the valve of one deck is closed a greater part of the time while the valve of another deck is open for substantially the same relative amount of time and the Valve for the middle deck is open only about half of the time. The valves 37 fit the expansion pipes 86 snugly and practically prevent all flow when closed. These valves may be located in the return pipes if desired but I find the form illustrated preferable.

\Vhat I claim is:

1. In an incubator, a water heater, a closed system of piping including said water heater, means for maintaining'the water in said system at a temperature far below boiling, an elongated incubator deck consisting of a plurality of separated chambers at the same level, a second closed system of piping extending substantially the entire length of said incubator deck and through each of said chambers, one of said systems including a portion of piping within the piping of the other system whereby heat units are supplied from the water of one system to the water of the other system, causing a constant flow of water thru the second closed system of piping.

2. The combination in an incubator of a primary hot water system including a heater, means for maintaining the temperature of the water in the primary system at approximately a chosen figure, a secondary heating system extending thru said incubator to heat the same, a heat transfer mechanism forming part of each system but keeping the systems entirely separate one from the other and means governed by the expansion of the water in the deck system for controlling the rate of flow of the water thru the deck system.

3. In a device wherein the temperature in a closed chamber must be kept within a few degrees of a known figure such as in an incubator, a heating system comprising two independent closed systems of piping thru which water constantly flows, one a primary system and the other a secondar system, a heat transfer device common to oth of the independent systems for transferring heat from the primary system to the secondary system, a water heater for causing flow thru the primary system, means for regulating the heater and means in the secondary system for controlling the rate of How thru the secondary system irrespective of the rate of flow of water thru the primary system.

4-. In a multiple deck mammoth incubator, a hot water heater, a main circulating system through which th water circulates to and from the heater, a tank connected with said main circulating system, a plurality of coils within said tank, a plurality of deck heating systems each communicating with one of said coils, and means for regulating the temperature of the water within the deck heating systems.

5. In an incubator, a plurality of separated decks at different levels, a system of water piping extending thru each deck, a primary system including a Water heater, means for controlling the rate of flow of water thru the primary system, means for transferring heat units from the primary system to the secondary system, and means individual to each deck system for controlling the rate of flow of water thru that system, said means being governed by the expansion of the water in said deck systems.

PERRY S. MARTIN. 

